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Friday, March 31, 2017

I promised I'd be back to talk about make number two. It's my favourite make of the year (Ok - so I've only made four things and two were duds, but let's not focus on that, alrighty?). For make number two I chose a pattern that I've been wanting to sew since it popped up on Pinterest long before it ever became a pattern. Of course I'm talking about Paprika Pattern's Jasper Hoodie.

It's a bit ridiculous that it's taken so long to make, but full disclosure here, I was scared of messing up the welt pockets. I have no idea why. I've sewn welt pockets before. I've sewn much harder things than welt pockets before and yet for some reason I was so intimidated. I can't even tell how many times I bought fabric specifically for Jasper, chickened out of making it and made something else instead.

This time I decided that if it was in my Make Nine choices I was going to use that as my accountability factor and I would have to make it and it worked. And boy am I glad. As I said this is my favourite sewn make and I wear it several times a week.

You might recognize this quilted jersey. It's from the same collection as the fabric I used for my Sew Over It Heather dress back in the fall. It's not quite the same though beyond being only one shade of grey instead of having a lighter and darker side. The other difference is that this one has WAY more stretch than the original fabric. Knowing that the original fabric didn't have much give I sized up on my Jasper. I also added a bit of length. Obviously I did not need to worry about sizing up or adding length and my Jasper is a whole lot more relaxed than intended. No worries though. It's cozy and snuggly and I really love wearing it as is!

As for sewing it? It really wasn't a problem. In fact I would say it was pretty easy. The only tricky part for me was lining up those welts perfectly straight and even that wasn't too arduous a task in the end. Mine are a smidge off from the seam line, but I'm not going to quibble over such a miniscule amount.

Check out those "not really scary after all" welts!

I do have one tiny little grumble about my Jasper and that is the pocket lining. It has a nasty habit of curling a bit at the top where it's not attached along the front, which occasionally leaves me with a bit of a lumpy looking line across my midsection. Have you made Jasper? Does yours do that? What did you do about it??? I think I may just tack it down with a bit of hand sewing. If I ever get around to it that is. As I said, I wear this several times a week so it doesn't leave a whole lot of time for fixing it and it definitely won't stop me from wearing it.

I've been actually feeling a bit down about my sewing lately. I'm not sure if it's because I'm tired, or if it's just fabric/pattern combos I've chosen or that I'm rushing a bit when I do sew since I always feel I have no time for it anymore. But having two out of four projects turn out pretty lousy was quite a hit to my confidence so I've taken a bit of break from my machine and focused on my knitting and spinning instead. The break has done me well and I'm getting some sewing mojo back. I've even been so bold as to start cutting out my third Make Nine project this evening!

I feel like I took the easy way out and started with my TnT (tried and true) Sew Over It's Molly Top. This is my third one and I reach for it all the time. I wasn't sure if I liked it in the super drapey viscose blend jersey that I ordered from Minerva Crafts in January. The jersey is absolutely heavenly to wear, but I wondered if the top itself was a bit too flowey for my curves (as in I hope it doesn't look maternity-ish - yikes!), but I've decided I don't care. It is so comfortable. I did add a wee bit of length to it as I wear it often to work and the last thing I feel like worrying about as I climb up and down ladders or bend and stoop to grab things is if my fish white belly is hanging out or even worse if I have the dreaded "plumber butt" look going on. Eeeek! I was generous with my length adding too, because if I have no other talents in this world, I excel at the one in which I can shrink pretty much anything at all.

When I ordered the blue marl jersey I also ordered a pink and purple striped jersey as well. I had started out initially to make a Day Tripper by Schwin Designs. What a disappointment. Sizing seems to be huge on it (of course nearly every review I read after the fact mentions the sizing), the length was laughably long on me and the width careened towards sack like rather than merely slouchy or relaxed. Given I was worried about it being too small going off my measurements I was pretty surprised by the end result. (Note to self: read reviews before starting out. Not after.) Also? Every time I look at the fabric I think of the damn Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland. Not that I have anything against it per say. But I do NOT want to look like it. I think it'll become a pj top at some point. It's not a going out in public top. That's for sure. I really wish I'd stuck with my TnT Molly. The fit is great and it always looks good in a stripey jersey. Woe is me.

So that's update number one. Next time I'm back I'll talk about my second make of my #2017MakeNine patterns!

Sunday, March 19, 2017

I don't even remember when I was here last. I'm not even going to look. It leads to all sorts of misplaced feeling of guilt and disappointment in myself. Life has been soundly kicking my butt lately with everything going on, the sloth has become my spirit animal. It's hard to accept given I normally like to be busy, getting things done, and more importantly used to relish in my night owl tendencies. What was that meme going around Facebook awhile back? "I'm not an early bird or a night owl. I'm some form of permanently exhausted pigeon." That pretty much sums me up right now.

Despite all, I have been getting a few things done here and there. I've actually even finished a few things! I often listen to podcasts on my drive to work and one I really enjoy is The Knitmore Girls. They have an ongoing instagram contest in the works called "Operation Sock Drawer" and Gigi often talks about the socks she's working on or has already knit. Listening to all her talk of socks inspired me to pick up a long standing work in progress and get them done. I actually started the Tin Can Knits SeaWall socks on March 11th last year. (Bear in mind it normally it takes me a few weeks at most to knit a pair of socks.) I finally cast off these babies on March 8th of this year. What happened???? It's an interesting enough pattern. The yarn wasn't horrible. How did it take me just shy of a year to knit them? It wasn't even a case of second sock syndrome holding me up. Sock number one took until mid-February this year. Ridiculous! I'm super happy to have them off the needles and out of my knitting bag!

I also finished my Andi Satterlund cardi, Henriette for the Selfish Sweater KAL in the Untangling Knots Ravelry group. This one thankfully went quicker than the socks and I finished knitting it in exactly a month! I'll show you some modelled pics of it at some point - I want to make a dress to actually go with it first, and quite frankly it's still sitting on top of my dresser waiting to get blocked. But here's a sneaky peek at it, taken while I was doing the finishing!

And you know, since I have so little time for knitting, I've decided to cast on ALL the things in the last few weeks. This is so weird for me. I'm usually such a monogamous knitter that I have no hot clue how I'll ever manage to finish any of it. Really. No clue. How do you decide which project to work on when you have more than one on the go? At first I justified it. Sock knitting for portable knitting (hockey practices, car knitting, waiting rooms, lunch breaks etc.).

WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME???? We won't even discuss that even though I have three projects already on the needles, it hasn't stopped me from downloading patterns and picking yarn out (from my stash at least) for other projects. Someone needs to intervene and put a stop to this madness of multiple works in progress!

I've finished very few things at the sewing machine, but do have two of my 2017 Make Nine projects finished. I just haven't taken photos of them yet, although I've been wearing them loads since sewing them. Also. I've been collecting WIP sewing projects in a similar fashion to what I've been doing in knitting. I'm like a magpie - Ooooh! Must have all the shiny new things!!!! Seriously. Someone send help!!!

So that's at least a bit of an update on my crafty doings as of late. I'm going to try to get my sewing projects up here on the blog in the near future (no promises though - who knows when I'll actually get back to blogging again it seems to be so hit or miss for me lately).

About Me

I am a mom of four boys - Baby Boy, Little Man, N, and J (born 2010, 2009, 1994 and 1990)and a girl - G (born 1992). The kids, my husband - (BF)G, and I also live with one cat, three dogs and two fish all of whom are possibly plotting to take over the world. My kids think I'm a geek, but I am quick to inform them that I am a "geek by choice not by nature!", which is definately a horse of a different colour all together! Spare moments of my time are usually taken up with my addiction to knitting and sewing. Possibly an unhealthy addiction, but then most addictions tend to be unhealthy in some way don't they?